History Literature / Christine

* UnbuiltTrope: From a modern perspective, Arnie's journey, in which a nerdy teenage boy is seduced by the object of his pop-culture fixation (which is secretly communicating with him) and turns into a misogynistic, bullying jerk who is ''way'' too attached to said piece of culture, can easily be read as metaphorical for how any number of lonely, disaffected young male nerds get sucked into the alt-right -- a movement that was barely a figment of anyone's imagination in 1983 (when white supremacists more commonly recruited among [[LowerClassLout "white trash"]] as opposed to targeting geek culture).

* SignaturedLine: Corneing Roland [=LeBay=] "His single-minded purpose. His unending fury."

** In the novel, [=LeBay=] turned Christine into this. Maybe. It's [[AmbigousSituation left ambiguous]] whether Christine was always powered by a malevolent will or if [=LeBay=] really did become one with her.

-->"What happened to us? I don't really know. We went together for two years, slept together ([[SexGoddess very satisfactorily]]), went to school together (Drew), and were friends with each other. Her father shut up about our crazy story after my father talked with him, although he always regarded me after that as something of a dubious person. (...) What happened that night in Darnell's Garage was a secret between us, and of course lovers need their secrets... but this wasn't a good one to have

** In the novel, [=LeBay=] turned Christine into this. Maybe. It's left ambiguous whether Christine was always powered by a malevolent will or if [=LeBay=] really did become one with her.

* SplitPersonalityTakeover: [=LeBay=]'s spirit eventually possesses Arnie completely.

''Christine'' is a 1983 horror novel by Creator/StephenKing.

A [[TheFilmOfTheBook film adaptation]], directed by Creator/JohnCarpenter and starring Keith Gordon as Arnie, was released the same year the book was published.

** In the film, it's left unknown whether Christine is defeated for good or if she'll rebuild herself, but it's implied the latter will happen, given part of her cube ''moves'' at the end.

* AnimateInanimateObject: The eponymous Christine is a sentient, murderous car.
* ArtisticLicenseCars: In the book, Christine is referred to as a sedan, though this is more of a continuity/editing error as King originally intended Christine to be a sedan, but found out midway Chrysler only offered the Plymouth Fury as a two door hardtop in 1958, and several instances of the word sedan were missed. In the film, Christine is shown rolling off the assembly line painted Autumn Red; Plymouth Furys were only available in white or gold in 1958 (this is not present in the book, as Christine is stated to have been custom painted Autumn Red after purchase). Christine is also stated in the novel to have a four on the floor transmission, when a three on the tree manual and the [=TorqueFlite=] automatic transmission were the only options (it's entirely possible this was another customisation).

* BettyAndVeronica: Roseanne is the Betty in comparison to the Veronica new girl Leigh who catches the attention of the Archie, Dennis.

* TheBroCode: Dennis' violation does not go unpunished.

* CarMeetsHouse: Christine disposes of one victim this way.
* TheCheerleader /PomPomGirl: Minor character Roseanne, who is flirty and (at least compared to Leigh) not too intelligent, but not necessarily mean either. In the book, Dennis doesn't even always think of her by name, just as "the cheerleader". She does seem to be energetic and engaged while cheering on the football game in one scene of the movie.
* ClingyJealousGirl: Take a guess.

* CompositeCharacter: A couple of strange examples in the film. In the book, Roland sells Arnie the car, wears an old back brace, uses the word "shitter," and has a creepy personality as well as a younger brother named George who turns out to be a very kind-hearted man and tells Dennis about the car's dark history including the fact that Roland never cared about anything other than the car. Roland's wife asphyxiated herself inside it by running a hose from the exhaust pipe into the window, although it's heavily implied that Roland actually set it up to look like a suicide and killed her himself. In the film, the creepy, "shitter"-saying, back brace-wearing man who sells Arnie the car is named George, who says he had a brother called Rollie who owned the car, cared about nothing but the car, and asphyxiated himself inside it by running a hose from the exhaust pipe into the window. So in the film, George is sort of 80% Roland and 20% George, while his mysterious unnamed brother is 50% Roland and 50% Roland's wife.

* CoolKidAndLoserFriendship: Dennis and Arnie. Dennis is the jock, BigManOnCampus and regarded as a cool kid. Arnie is the stereotypical nerd.
* CountryMatters: Buddy calls Arnie "Cuntface".

* DeadpanSnarker: Detective Junkins in the film.

* DidNotGetTheGirl: It's revealed in the epilogue that [[spoiler:Dennis and Leigh]] didn't end up together.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Arnie and his parents are dead, along with eight other people. Dennis has broken up with Leigh. And Dennis strongly suspects that CHRISTINE IS STILL OUT THERE]].

* DrivenToSuicide: [=LeBay=]'s wife committed suicide in the car after the death of her daughter... or did she?

* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:Arnie]]. Dennis has a dream of him appearing.

* FeudEpisode: First there was Christine. Leigh came later.
* FingerTwitchingRevival: Or, in this case, a chrome twitching revival.

* HealingFactor: Christine has it. Up to the point of returning from a burned out wreck to mint condition within minutes. It seems to work while Christine is in motion with her odometer going in reverse as it happens. After Repperton and his gang trash her, Arnie only has to push her until she's repaired herself enough to start, then just drive around until Christine repairs completely.

* PostModernMagik: Evil possessed car threatening your day... do you find some magic spell to exorcise it? Bring the ghost closure so he can move on? No, you run over it with [[MoreDakka an oversized Caterpiller truck]], crushing it and re-crushing it [[NoKillLikeOverkill over and over until it stops healing itself]], then have your local junkyard turn it into a 3 foot square cube.

-->'''Buddy Repperton:''' Some shithead's following me!
-->''(the sound of an engine can be heard)''
-->'''Buddy Repperton:''' I just hope he comes in here!
-->''(Christine's tires let out a screech as she took the same turn more gracefully than Buddy managed to. She drives right into the side of Buddy's Camaro and comes to a sudden stop, the Camaro crunched against the gas station wall, its hood popped off of one its hinges and now flopped lopsided, which seemingly matches Buddy's shocked expression)''
* TheEndOrIsIt: At the end, Dennis and Leigh are looking at the crushed cube that was once Christine. Then [[OhCrap they hear some rock'n'roll]]... but it's actually a guy walking past with a boombox. [[spoiler:''Then'' the camera slowly zooms in on Christine... and there's a groan as part of her grille starts to move]].
* TheOneThatGotAway: At one point, Will Darnell reminisces about his teenage sweetheart, Wanda Haskins. Darnell is a corrupt and cynical man, but he did love Wanda, and he thinks they would have married if her family didn't move away.

* UnbuiltTrope: From a modern perspective, Arnie's journey, in which a nerdy teenage boy is seduced by the object of his pop culture fixation (which is secretly communicating with him) and turns into a misogynistic, bullying jerk who is ''way'' too attached to said piece of culture, can easily be read as metaphorical for how any number of lonely, disaffected young male nerds get sucked into the alt-right -- a movement that was barely a figment of anyone's imagination in 1983 (when white supremacists more commonly recruited among [[LowerClassLout "white trash"]] as opposed to targeting geek culture).

* CompositeCharacter: A couple of strange examples in the film. In the book, Roland sells Arnie the car, wears an old back brace, uses the word "shitter," and has a creepy personality as well as a younger brother named George who turns out to be a very kind-hearted man and tells Dennis about the car's dark history including the fact that Roland never cared about anything other than the car. Roland's wife asphyxiated herself inside it by running a hose from the exhaust pipe into the window, although it's heavily implied that Roland actually set it up to look like a suicide and killed her himself. In the film, the creepy, "shitter"-saying, back brace-wearing man who sells Arnie the car is named George, who says he had a brother, (who goes unnamed) who owned the car, cared about nothing but the car, and asphyxiated himself inside it by running a hose from the exhaust pipe into the window. So in the film, George is sort of 80% Roland and 20% George, while his mysterious unnamed brother is 50% Roland and 50% Roland's wife.
** George does mention his name once near the beginning but it is hard to hear. He mumbles "Goddamn Rollie went through Hell and back with Christine." (Rollie was a nickname for Roland in the novel.)

*** "Car possessed by ghost" qualifies all on its own. Especially as the novel's protagonist already theorises that it's a result of post-modern blood sacrifice magic ritual. Specifically, the previous car's owner's attitude towards the machine, and its history as well (two of the guy's family members died in it), equaled to having unknowingly performed a kind of enchantment ritual on the car.

* SoulJar: [=LeBay=] turned Christine into this. Maybe. It's left ambiguous whether Christine was always powered by a malevolent will or if [=LeBay=] really did become one with her.
** Most likely [[AvertedTrope averted]] in the film: Christine's first victim is a factory worker who accidentally drops cigar ashes on her front seat.

* TheSeventies / TheFifties: The novel is set in 1978-79, but Christine often turns time back to 1958 (the Nostalgic Fifties version), complete with SeeminglyWholesomeFiftiesGirl and a radio that plays NothingButHits.

** [[http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_4868-Dodge-Charger-1968.html The 1968 Charger]] Dennis drives in the film, and Buddy's Camaro. While the year is not mentioned in the book, the [[http://pics.imcdb.org/0is164/890901969chevroletcamarwt2.3177.jpg film's version]] is a 1968.
*** Buddy's Camaro is a '76 in the book. It was mentioned that he came by a two year old Camaro from one of Darnell's poker buddies. The book is set in '78, ergo it was a '76. (page 76 of US paperback version in the chapter, "Buddy Reperton").

* 10MinuteRetirement: Dennis, after witnessing for himself confirmation of Christine's nature, decides not to get any further into it than he already is. [[spoiler:That very night Christine murders Detective Junkins and he realizes that more people, very likely including Leigh, will die if Christine is allowed to run free.]]

-->Buddy Repperton: ''"Some shithead's following me!"''

-->Buddy Repperton: ''"I just hope he comes in here!"''

** Most likely [[AvertedTrope averted]] in the film: Christine's first victim is a factory worker who accidentally drops cigarette ashes on her front seat.

-->''(Christine tires let out a screech as she took the same turn more gracefully than Buddy managed to. She drives right into the side of Buddy's Camaro and comes to a sudden stop, the Camaro crunched against the gas station wall, its hood popped off of one its hinges and now flopped lopsided, which seemingly matches Buddy's shocked expression)''

* DisproportionateRetribution: In the film, a factory worker sits down behind Christine's wheel while she's still on the assembly line, but already with a full interior. He accidentally drops cigarette ashes on her brand-new front seat which was covered with a protective cover. She promptly kills him for it.

** George does mention his name one near the beginning but it is hard to hear. He mumbles "Goddamn Rollie went through Hell and back with Christine." (Rollie was a nichname for Roland in the novel.)

* CompositeCharacter: A couple of strange examples in the film. In the book, Roland sells Arnie the car, wears an old back brace, uses the word "shitter," and has a creepy personality as well as a younger brother named George who turns out to be a very kind-hearted man and tells Dennis about the car's dark history including the fact that Roland never cared about anything other than the car. Roland's wife asphyxiated herself inside it by running a hose from the exhaust pipe into the window, although it's heavily implied that Roland actually set it up to look like a suicide and killed her himself. In the film, the creepy, "shitter"-saying, back brace-wearing man who sells Arnie the car is named George, who says he had a brother, Rollie, who owned the car, cared about nothing but the car, and asphyxiated himself inside it by running a hose from the exhaust pipe into the window. So in the film, George is sort of 80% Roland and 20% George, while his mysterious unnamed brother is 50% Roland and 50% Roland's wife.

*** Buddy's Camaro is a '76 in the book. It was mentioned that he came by a two year old Camaro from one of Darnelle's poker buddies. The book is set in '78, ergo it was a '76.

** Buddy's Camaro is a '76 in the book. It was mentioned that he came by a two year old Camaro from one of Darnelle's poker buddies. The book is set in '78, ergo it was a '76.

* CompositeCharacter: A couple of strange examples in the film. In the book, Roland sells Arnie the car, wears an old back brace, uses the word "shitter," and has a creepy personality as well as a younger brother named George who turns out to be a very kind-hearted man and tells Dennis about the car's dark history including the fact that Roland never cared about anything other than the car. Roland's wife asphyxiated herself inside it by running a hose from the exhaust pipe into the window, although it's heavily implied that Roland actually set it up to look like a suicide and killed her himself. In the film, the creepy, "shitter"-saying, back brace-wearing man who sells Arnie the car is named George, who says he had a brother (who goes unnamed) who owned the car, cared about nothing but the car, and asphyxiated himself inside it by running a hose from the exhaust pipe into the window. So in the film, George is sort of 80% Roland and 20% George, while his mysterious unnamed brother is 50% Roland and 50% Roland's wife.

* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: Christine is painted Autumn Red, despite 1958 Plymouth Furies only coming in white or gold. In the book, it's explained that she was custom-painted. In the film, she's shown coming off the assembly line in that color. Considering that the car starts off possessed in the film, and she's the only red Fury to be seen on the entire assembly line, it's possible that she "repaired" her paint job to red while rolling down the line.

* AdaptationalDeviation: Various differences, one of the most memorable is Christine's way of killing Darnell (smashing through his house in the book, crushing him in her seat in the movie).

Post-Modern Magik: Evil possessed car threatening your day... do you find some magic spell to exorcise it? Bring the ghost closure so he can move on? No, you run over it with [[MoreDakka an oversized Caterpiller truck]], crushing it and re-crushing it [[NoKillLikeOverkill over and over until it stops healing itself]], then have your local junkyard turn it into a 3 foot square cube.

* InfantImmortality: Averted. [=LeBay=]'s young daughter choked to death in the backseat of Christine.

* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler: The book mentions that Leigh and the guy she ended up marrying have twin daughters]].
* BadassBoast: Christine manages to get out an epic one without being able to speak. [[spoiler: Dennis is attempting to crush her to death under the treads of a crawler loader? Her radio starts blaring out a taunting rendition of "Rock and Roll Is Here To Stay."]]

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler: It's never directly stated whether or not Arnie was possessed by the spirit of George [=LeBay=] or corrupted by Christine. Either way, Arnie is not the same person by the final act.]]

* CarFu: The climax is [[spoiler: Leigh and Dennis versus Christine, using a pink septic tanker truck]].

* ColorMotifs: Red, as shown with Christine's paint job and Arnie's red jacket. [[spoiler: It shows how Arnie's sanity had been eroding throughout the movie and had either been possessed by George [=LeBay=] or had been corrupted by Christine's influence.]]

** It's easy to miss since Christine is such a show-stealer, but Detective Junkins in the film ''also'' drives a Plymouth Fury. TruthInTelevision - late-'70s Furies were popular with police.

* DidNotGetTheGirl: It's revealed in the epilogue that [[spoiler: Dennis and Leigh]] didn't end up together.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Arnie and his parents are dead, along with eight other people. Dennis has broken up with Leigh. And Dennis has just found out that CHRISTINE IS STILL OUT THERE.]]

* DrivenToSuicide: [=LeBay=]'s wife committed suicide in the car after the death of her daughter...or did she?

* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler: Arnie.]] Dennis has a dream of him appearing.

* EveryCarIsAPinto: During the last scene, we find out that [[spoiler: Arnie and Regina are killed in a freak accident on the turnpike,]] during mild winter weather. Going no more than 45... And the Volvo explodes, somehow.

* FromASingleCell: Well, from a single lugnut anyway. [[spoiler:At the end Dennis and Leigh smash the shit out of Christine with a tanker truck, and the remains are put through a car crusher. One of the junkyard workers later insists that a piece of the car ''bit'' him, and the epilogue implies that four years later Christine has regenerated and is coming for Dennis.]]

* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: [[spoiler: Moochie Welch is cut in half between Christine's front bumper and a building]] in the movie.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Arnie and Dennis. [[OddCouple A nerd and a jock.]]

* IDieFree: [[spoiler:Arnie died keeping [=LeBay=] from possessing him. The film plays this differently, with Arnie's last act being to lovingly stroke Christine's fender.]]

* InfernalRetaliation: [[spoiler: In the movie, Christine chases Buddy Repperton and Richie Trelawney to a gas station where they wanted to meet a third. She crashes into Buddy's Camaro, shoves it into the gas station, and [[StuffBlowingUp causes it to explode]] [[ImpressivePyrotechnics in a spectacular fireball]] by igniting the spilled gasoline. Buddy manages to rescue himself and believes that Christine is destroyed in the flames. But she backs OutOfTheInferno, burning all over, chases him down the road, and eventually runs over him, leaving his flaming corpse lying on the asphalt.]]

* NotQuiteDead: Christine regenerates whenever she's beaten to smithereens. [[spoiler: Dennis suspects she's rebuilding herself at the end.]]

* OffingTheOffspring: [[spoiler: It's revealed that [=LeBay=] may have sacrificed his choking daughter to Christine]].

* ShoutOut: Arnie and Leigh go Christmas shopping at the [[Film/DawnOfTheDead1978 Monroeville Mall.]]

* SoundtrackDissonance: Christine's radio blares out 50s hits as she kills her targets.

-->''(Christine tires let out a screech as she took the same turn more gracefully than Buddy managed to. She drives right into the side of Buddy's Camaro and comes to a sudden stop, the Camaro crunched against the gas station wall. Its hood popped off of one its hinges and now flopped lopsided, which seemingly matched Buddy's shocked expression)''
* TheEndOrIsIt: At the end, Dennis and Leigh are looking at the crushed cube that was once Christine. Then [[OhCrap they hear some rock'n'roll]]... but it's actually a guy walking past with a boombox. ''Then'' the camera slowly zooms in on Christine... and there's a groan as part of her grille starts to move...

* TookALevelInBadass: Arnie goes through two versions of this trope. First he becomes more aggressive thanks to being possessed by [=LeBay=]'s spirit. Secondly [[spoiler: he's able to fight off the possession in the car accident that kills him and his mother]].

-->Buddy Repperaton: ''"I just hope he comes in here!"''

* [[SheCleansUpNicely He Cleans Up Nicely]]: Dennis notes how, after a few months under Christine's influence, Arnie's acne clears up and his posture and physique improve, revealing a pretty handsome guy under all the nerd luster.

* AdultsAreUseless: From the novel, played straight with Arnie's parents (domineering mother Regina is dead set against Arnie having Christine at all, refuses to listen to any rational reasoning, blames Dennis for "allowing" Arnie to buy the car, and in general has a my-way-or-no-way attitude; henpecked husband Michael offers little resistance) and averted with Dennis' parents (especially his father, who gradually becomes convinced that something is wrong with Arnie in regards to Christine; Dennis eventually tells him the full story, at the very end).

* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: Christine is painted Autumn Red, despite 1958 Plymouth Furies only coming in white or gold. In the book, it's said that she was custom painted. In the film, she's shown coming off the assembly line in that colour. Considering that the car starts off possessed in the film, and she's the only red Fury to be seen on the entire assembly line, it's possible that she 'repaired' her paint job to red while rolling down the line.

[[caption-width-right:300:She was born bad. Plain and simple.]]